1 - The Tunisian Aviation Authority cancelled the project of the new airport, which was intended to replace Tunis-Carthage, and which was planned to be built half-way between TUN and MIR, 100 Kms south of downtown. The study was made by ADP (Aéroports de Paris) for 10 millions Euro and expected a certain success for that platform. I really appreciated the cancellation because investors wanted to have guarantees that MIR will be closed upon the start of operations of the new airport, thing that made me angry, not only because i have historic ties with MIR but also because we really do not need such a huge project. A new charter terminal in being built for TUN, just by the Pilgrims and freight terminals, and MIR position is perfect for all the touristic areas it already serves.

2 - Tuninter is no longer banned from the European skies as it wasn't in the recent black list issued by the EU. The airline is now working on its image in the Italian market, and also in the domestic one. Traffic in-between Tunisian airports showed an unprecedented increase and the ATRs are no longer adequate for the market. Recently, Tuninter leased an AB6 from Tunisair to shuttle between TUN,DJE and TOE.

Tunisian has strong ties with all the European continent and not only France. If a Tunisian airline is banned from the European skies; it certainly shuts down !!! Tuninter was only banned from the Italian skies and continued to fly to Malta for example. Now the problem resides in the Italian TOs and tourists.

Quoting Lazyshaun (Reply 3):And if it is, what do you do if the EU decide your not aloud to fly in in Europe

Quoting Kappel (Reply 5):If the EU decide that a european airline can't fly anymore, they pull the operator's certificate

Here's how the blacklist will work.

When an FPL is filed using the ICAO code of a blacklisted carrier, they will flag in the system. It will be manually looked at, and the aircraft opertor will be checked. If the operator is a banned carrier, they FPL will be rejected. If Th Operator is not on the list..the FPL will be OK'd.

If the operator has been filed illegally, (e,g, if you name the operator as XXX but it is really a blacklist carrier), the aircraft will be forced, if required, to leave airspace or land at the nearest airport where the aircraft will be impounded.

Several carriers on the list operate into Europe, but wetlease from carriers such as Air Futura. So the FPL will be airline XXX operated by Air Futura.

Bad idea not to build the airport. The seven current international airports had about 9.6 million international passengers last year, only marginally below the capacity design of 10 million pax. So what they basically have done is to restrict future growth at the country's expense... even with interim terminals the capacity won't be adequate in future. So be prepared to wait quite a bit in future at Tunesian airports... or fly to another holiday destination.